Advice for Riding with Babies/Young Kids?

[benb]

I'd wait till they can hold their head up, etc.. most of the guidelines for that seem on the money.

The better trailers have more support for their head if they fall asleep. A Helmet helps with that as well because it will hit the supports and keep their head up.

If they're too small for a helmet they're too small to go for a ride IMO.

The seats, especially the new ones that mount on the handlebars terrify me and I wouldn't have touched them with a 10 foot pole. I can't believe someone ever thought it was a good idea to perch a small child on the handlebars and interfere with the steering of the bike and then use the kid as an airbag if the rider crashes.

With my son it was:
Burley by around 12 months?
Balance bike at 18 months
Bike with training wheels around 2.5yrs? (It was a gift)
We used a "balance buddy" handle to transition out of training wheels.
Traded Burley for a Weehoo around 3 years old
Started riding without training wheels around 4 years old
Got rid of the Weehoo when he was 4 and a half or so
At 5 years old he was good for 5 miles
Xmas after turning 5 he got a 20" bike with hand brakes & 6 speeds
Turning 7 this fall he'll ride about 10 miles without complaint this summer

[timto]

I had twins and did the following and enjoyed it immensely.

• Babies- trailer
• Toddlers - Dutch Cargo bike till they were around 5. Super fun, can converse with them, but had flat terrain and could park in yard under a tarp.
• Older - Then long tail - with handle bar for second passenger. till they were around 7 then got too heavy for me.
  

Then solo bikes were introduced around age 5 but we still used long tail often

[p nut]

I’ve had a couple different set ups. Surly Big Dummy, regular bike with Yelp, and a trailer. Best and most versatile, and IMO, most safe is the trailer. I bought a Chariot 8 years ago. Put two kids through it and about to put a 3rd. They are lower. Low chance of roll over. Keeps the COG low on the bike as well, especially good for those low speed maneuvers. Keeps the kids out of the elements in rain, snow, and keeps them warm. Lots of storage for food, clothes, groceries, etc.

Start riding at 6-8 months. Keep them in until 1.5 years. Then straight to a balance bike. Then a 16” bike.

[Ttx1]

3 kids here.

All of them started in an iBert front seat, which promotes a sense of bicycle handling and control - it's also much easier to interact with kids while riding, and they can ring the bell, etc.

(not my pic)

From there, direct to a balance bike, and then a real bike.

We also have a hand-me down Rhode Gear Dinobak tow bike that's seen some use for longer rides at a certain stage...

We explicitly avoided trailers or rear-rack seats because we never wanted our kids to feel uncomfortable due to unpredictable bounces or limited visibility from the rear.

Riding with my kids in the iBert seat has been a real joy, and automatically promoted their own independent interest in progressing to a balance bike.

[HenryA]

Think about a can of paint on a step ladder being knocked over and then think about your baby’s head as the paint can. That’s what may happen if you fall with the baby on the top tube or in a seat behind your saddle. Just don’t do it.

Start with a trailer on really smooth roads around one year. At that point the toddler is likely walking and falling on his own and ready for some bumping around.

[janky]

We had really good experiences with the iBert. That was great while it lasted. Was less fond of the rear seat on the rack option that we used once the kid out grew the iBert- it worked ok but the amount of weight of the rear of the bike that high up never felt good. We switched over to a trail gator which (continues) to work great. Now that the kid is riding on their own it's a great option for when they get tired or to get them through traffic.

[zlin]

Our 1.5 yr old enjoys the instep trailer from amazon however 1. dirt/puddles can fly up on them from rear wheel and 2. when they fall asleep and head dips my wife rides parallel to make sure they are ok (they are fine, but mom likes to check).

We ride slow on flat paved bike paths.

Picked up a helmet from local shop and started at 1 yr. Practiced with the helmet ON all around the house. Loves the helmet!

I didn't go for the 'on bike' approach as suggested from local shop as I was originally looking at the Thule attachments. If bike were to fall over, the trailer is still fine. If trailer were to roll over, limbs and head are protected.

Purchased the instep for price over new burley since it's a short time they'll be in there and our rides are only like 40 minutes max.

Now looking at a balance bike and a Yuba might be in the future - we'll see. It's really fun getting out again as a family even if it's short rides, lots of stops, I love it. Enjoy this time!

I now keep the trailer coupler on my Hampsten all the time now so we're ready to roll

[zlin]

Almost forgot pro tips.

1. snacks
2. proper bidon for lil one
3. I fitted a bell to the inside bar of the trailer for fun
4. stop for cookies, donuts, ice cream, puppies, playgrounds - it's their ride, too!
5. enjoy it.

[deechee]

I envy all of you who were able to do all this stuff. We couldn't get our son to co-operate with the stroller since he was one. He's ok in it now, but only to walk to daycare and not putting on the straps.

The whole notion of being strapped in & going fast doesn't appeal to him. Having control by riding his push bike, playing with a scooter is MUCH more enjoyable for him. The winter sled is only enjoyable because of the bumpy ride; he does NOT like tobaganning downhill. Go figure.

There's no way I could have done the chariot or the bike seat due to his refusal to stay seated and escape artist skills. The plus side is I didn't have to buy all this stuff and have an enormous chariot in the house.

My advice, worry about this stuff when you get there. Borrow friend's old seats and see what happens. I'm glad I did. My son is too strong willed to last more than 2 mins strapped in.

[weaponsgrade]

I started with a Burley trailer for my two kids. I then went to a Scoot balance bike, two wheeled Razor scooter, and Burley Piccolo. I'm still using the Piccolo to haul my 6 yr old to school while the 9 yr old rides her own bike. Both my kids loved getting towed around in the Burley. I never used training wheels.

The older one didn't take much of a liking to the balance bike, but got the feel of two wheels from her scooter. The younger one was just the opposite when she was learning two wheels - loved the balance bike but not the scooter.

[brewsmith]

Thanks for the advice all, lots of great info!

[93KgBike]

Originally Posted by brewsmith

So my son is now 4 months old(!) and starting to be able to sit up on his own etc.

I know it's a ways off, but I wanted to poll the Paceline to see when folks started riding with their young ones and what kind of seats etc. you have used and reccomend. Seems like the progression would go from front mounted seat to rear/trailer then tandem attachment? School me!

Congrats! My kids and wife are my favorite riding partners.

My thinking is that falls from a bicycle are inevitable for everyone who rides, eventually.

(8mo - 18mo) Once a child can sit upright and hold its head up, an above/straddling-the-wheel style is okay. I spent some time with a TT-straddle setup for our first child while we were living overseas. It was fine in a few countries that really treasure biking, but felt like it would be a more difficult problem in the US.

(11mo-18mo) I switched to a Burley style pull-behind briefly, trying to find a commuter setup that felt safe for US traffic patterns before we got back. It works, but it is difficult to keep a constant rearward alertness for the 6-9 feet that are required to attend the baby's safety, and the baby throws things out (mine threw everything!).

At 18 months old, I decided to make a major investment for our child's (knowing we wanted more) and my own, and our family's riding and bought a bakfiets style bike cargo-bike, with the child seated in-front-of and below me.

As we have had more children, the age of 1st ride has gone down to 5 months (a car seat fit in mine), and by 4yo they've become able to commute on their own bikes.

I shopped for ours 7 years ago, when there were only a few choices. I just wanted a frame stiff enough for me to climb with it, and to stand on the pedals, that rode our child lower than the TT. There are a lot of choices that fit that bill now, I think. Then, there were 2-3.

What's your budget? What's your limit?

What kind of bike(s) are you riding now?

If you are a bike commuter, how hard do you go? How far?

Do you have other family members who bike?

It is possible to get the kind of performance that you are already accustomed to in riding from a kid-centric/cargo bike.

I have even ridden single-track with knobby tires on ours.

I have never had to carry more than two kiddos at a time, and it's never not been fun.

[benb]

Originally Posted by 93KgBike

Congrats! My kids and wife are my favorite riding partners.

(11mo-18mo) I switched to a Burley style pull-behind briefly, trying to find a commuter setup that felt safe for US traffic patterns before we got back. It works, but it is difficult to keep a constant rearward alertness for the 6-9 feet that are required to attend the baby's safety, and the baby throws things out (mine threw everything!).

Don't discount this! My son went through this phase too, luckily we almost always rode as a family and my wife would see stuff getting thrown out of the trailer. He threw his shoes and socks out once! In the Burleys the kids can reach forward and push stuff out through the bottom of the front of the trailer.

Pretty hilarious actually.

[azrider]

Originally Posted by 93KgBike

(11mo-18mo) I switched to a Burley style pull-behind briefly, trying to find a commuter setup that felt safe for US traffic patterns before we got back. It works, but it is difficult to keep a constant rearward alertness for the 6-9 feet that are required to attend the baby's safety, and the baby throws things out (mine threw everything!)..

hahhaha........this really hit home

Our boy is quite analytical and has always played it safe so when we pulled him in the Burley we would notice he wouldn't move around all that much. Loved it but he definitely abided by "keep all hands feet inside" rule........

Our daughter on the other hand would stand up if we would let her

She LOVES throwing things out and even threw her coveted "blanky" out which required me to retrace our steps on a particular long ride. Funny

[brewsmith]

Bumping this back up. 'Little Fat' is almost 10 months and gearing up to walk.

Lots of great advice here, thanks for the input all! I am currently scouring CL and local classifieds for a Burley trailer or similar, but if anyone in the paceline orbit has a 7am blanket or similar cold weather gear for babies, I'd love to take it off your hands. Even though he's 10 months, he wears 18 month+ so larger is good. Just figured I'd plug it since we seem to shed baby items weekly, and would gladly put any relevant items back up here once he outgrows them.

Thanks!